A Hero's Journey
by Unknown-nin345
Summary: A 'what if' story. The What If? What If Danny wasn't interrupted as he was about to tell his parents about his ghost abilities right in the first episode! How would the story have progressed then? Here's my take on it. Pairing: DannyxSam, OCxValerie
1. The Journey Begins

**A HERO'S JOURNEY**

**Unknown-nin345: Welcome all ye readers of various ages to my first multi-chap Danny Phantom fic. This fic is going to start off right at the beginning of the first episode of the season but with a major twist: Jazz doesn't interrupt Danny as he confesses his ghostly half to his parents. I plan on keeping mostly to canon with this fic but note; I said 'MOSTLY'. There are going to be a couple changes that will have an impact on how the story progresses. With that said, let's get this fic on the road.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, nor do I own any other possible movies/actors/characters/books/cartoons/video games that might be mentioned over the course of the fic. (Unless they are OCs or made up movies/books/etc.)**

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><p>Daniel 'Danny' Fenton was backed up against a wall, literally, as his ghost hunting parents drew closer and closer. Tiny beads of sweat dripped down his forehead as his parents came to a stop directly in front of him. The teen did his best to hide his currently invisible arm behind his back before his parents could spot it.<p>

"Ghost located, thank you for using the Fenton Finder," intoned the small gadget in the hands of the man wearing the orange haz-mat suit. Both Maddie and Jack Fenton looked up only to spot their nervously grinning son. Silence engulfed the kitchen.

'_Well, it was bound to come out at some point,'_ the black-haired teenager thought to himself. A deep breath helped to fortify his nerves as he started to speak, "Mom. Dad. There's something I have to tell you."

The two parents looked at each other in confusion before Maddie responded, "Of course sweetie, you know you can tell us anything." Jack gave a firm nod of agreement.

'_Boy, I sure hope so.' _"You know how a month ago, you showed me and Jazz the finished ghost portal but when you plugged it in, nothing happened?" After his parents nodded, Danny went on, "Well the next day I brought Sam and Tucker down to show 'em and Sam managed to convince me to go into the Portal to see if I could possibly fix it. When I went in, I wasn't paying attention to where I was putting my hands and I ended up pressing the 'on' button." He allowed his parents a moment to exchange a sheepish expression while, in the background, Jazz slapped her forehead in exasperation.

"Suddenly, this bright green light engulfed and all I felt was this burning sensation. The next thing I know I'm back outside the portal and Sam and Tucker are both leaning over me, asking me if I was okay. That's when I found out … well, it might be easier to show you." With that, Danny closed his eyes and gently willed his transformation.

Before the eyes of his family, a bright bluish-white circle surrounded Danny before it split into two circles, one traveling up while the other went down. When the circles disappeared, Danny stood there in his black haz-mat suit with white collar, gloves, belt, and boots. His smoky-black hair was now a luminous snow-white color and he opened his now bright green eyes.

Danny's eyes were glowing and not just literally. There seemed to be a confidence and power there that normally wasn't present with Danny. In fact (at least to Jazz's eyes), his whole posture had changed. Whereas before he would try to make himself seem invisible by shrinking in on himself; his stance was now firm and strong, unyielding as a mountain in the face of a storm.

After giving his shocked family a moment to adjust to his new appearance, Danny continued speaking, "I'm now half ghost and half human. I can fly, turn invisible, phase through solid objects, and I'm stronger and more agile in my ghost form. But I don't know yet if those abilities are all I've gained."

The rest of the Fenton family was silent before Maddie frowned and asked, "But why didn't you tell us sooner Danny?"

The ghostly teenager looked down at the ground as he answered, "I was scared. Between your 'Let's dissect every ghost we find' and Dad's 'Let's destroy every ghost we find' attitudes, what should I have done? Every time I ran through this conversation in head I would stop right after I told because I couldn't be sure how you would react. Would you try to destroy me? Put me through painful experiments to learn my physiology? Cure me?"

The way he said the last two words had Jack curious. "You mean you don't want to be a normal teenager again son?" the large man asked.

The white-haired teen shook his head in confusion. "I don't know Dad. Being normal just means I'd be some clumsy loser who gets picked on constantly at school by bullies while the teachers turn a blind eye. But with these powers I can help people. Ever since the day I got my powers, ghosts have been slipping through the portal into our realm." When he saw the expressions his parents were gaining Danny hurried to calm them down, "So far nothing really dangerous has come through, and it's just mainly been animal ghosts that aren't too smart. I've been able to beat them back through the Portal, but what if something stronger comes through? As it is right now I can barely control-" Danny was interrupted as the blue-white circles appeared around him, changing him back to his human form. "-my powers. You see? Without them I'm just your average teenager. And since we're not sure if any of your inventions will actually work against ghosts there wouldn't be anything I could do if a stronger ghost attacked."

"But why you Danny?" his mother asked. "You're just a teenager, you shouldn't be the one who has this kind of burden placed on your shoulders. Let someone else worry about fighting off the ghosts; your father and I aren't the only ghost hunters in the world after all. We'll get started on finding a way to turn you back into a full human."

As his mother continued to babble on about curing him, Danny closed his eyes and bowed his head in thought. Could he really just step aside? Let someone else bear the burden of protecting the town from ghost attacks? Suddenly a face appeared in his mind's eye and Danny felt resolve strengthen his will. Courage empowered his spirit and the half-ghost teen knew his answer.

"No."

Danny's eyes shot open to reveal twin resolute emerald orbs that shone with such an intensity that left his parents and sister speechless. Immediately after, Danny stood there in his ghost form as he seemed to exude a presence that filled the small kitchen.

"With this power comes a responsibility to do all I can to help people. Mom. Dad." He looked both his parents in the eye so they could see how serious he was about this. "I'm not going to do this because I want to be some sort of world-famous superhero; heck I'm not even going to do this because I think it'll make me popular with the kids at school. I'm choosing to do this simply because I do have the choice; because it will be what is right and not what is easy." Danny looked down at his clenched fists. "I know I won't be able to protect everyone. I know I won't defeat every single enemy I come across right off the bat. But one thing I do know is this:" Here Danny looked up as his eyes glowed brightly, "no matter how many times I get battered, beaten, and bruised; no matter how many times I break my bones or how much blood I shed; I will NEVER give up. I will NEVER stand aside. I WILL always fight on to protect every single person I can." Unbidden, a poem he had once read came to the forefront of his mind. "In the end, it won't matter how straight my gait, how charged with punishments my scroll. I alone am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul."

Silence once again engulfed the kitchen as the glow faded from Danny's eyes. The half-ghost teenager broke the silence with a muttered, "Gotta go to school." When he was halfway across the room the white-haired teen felt a hand on his shoulder. Danny turned, only to be engulfed by a hug from his older sister.

"I'm so proud of you," Jazz whispered before she released her brother and gathered up her things to head off to school. With one last pride-filled smile, Jazz left. Danny smiled himself before he grabbed his backpack and took off, turning intangible to fly through the wall.

Back in the kitchen of Fenton Works, both parents still stood where they had been; shocked by their son's passionate speech.

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><p><strong>END CHAPTER<strong>

**Unknown-nin345: Well there we go. Sorry this chapter is so short, but I felt right here was a good let off point. Think of this as a commercial break…only without the commercials (don't know whether that's good or bad). As you can see already I'm making some changes to Danny's character and there will be plenty more where that came from.**

**Disclaimer: the poem Danny's recalling is titled 'Invictus' by William Ernest Henley (1849-1903). The actual last stanza goes like this:**

**It matters not how strait the gate,  
>How charged with punishment the scroll,<br>I am the master of my fate:  
>I am the captain of my soul.<strong>

**As you can see, I changed it up a little bit.**

**Anywho…Review Please!**


	2. Mystery Meat Pt 1

**A HERO'S JOURNEY  
>Chapter 2<strong>

**Unknown-nin345: I'm going to keep this author's note short aside from the warning that while I will keep mostly to canon, there will be changes. So I don't want to hear any complaints about the changes ok? Also, thank you everyone who has reviewed, favorited, or added this story to your story alerts. It's people like you that make it fun for me to write.**

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><p>It was hard for Danny to say just how he felt as he soared through the skies (invisible of course) on his way to school.<p>

On one hand, he felt like an enormous weight had been lifted off his shoulders now that he had admitted his secret to his parents. On the other hand though, now he had to worry about what their reaction would be now that they knew they had a half-ghost half-human son. Of course a plus about the whole situation was Jazz's acceptance of his choice. The green-eyed teen allowed himself a small smile, he always could count on his sister.

Seeing that he was coming up on the school, Danny began his descent towards a secluded spot to change back to his human form. A brief flash of light later, his transformation was complete and Danny continued on to school. While he walked, the teen continued to ponder over the possible changes that might occur with his parents. It was hard to predict what they might do, especially what his father might do; sometimes Danny doubted even his father knew what went on his ghost/food-obsessed head.

As he drew closer to the school though, Danny's thoughts became a little preoccupied as his blue eyes landed on his best friend, Sam (call-me-Samantha-if-you-have-a-death-wish) Manson, and felt his heart beat a little bit faster. He knew that most people would say that her gothic attire and attitude were unappealing or just plain creepy, but to Danny they were what made Sam so incredible.

While other girls would rather waste time gossiping or working on their image, Sam preferred doing stuff that would actually help her later in life. Sam was a goth and an ultra-recyclo-vegetarian; not just because both ways of life were unique, but because she truly liked being both things.

Danny knew that if he ever had to make a choice between anything and Sam; the goth girl would win hands down every time (except if the other choice was Danny's family).

"Hey Sam," Danny greeted with a small wave as he approached his friend.

Sam smiled back at the half-ghost teen, "Hey Danny, ready for another _exciting_ day at Casper High School?"

Danny chuckled at the sarcasm practically oozing from Sam's sentence, "Oh come on Sam. You never know, we might actually enjoy a day here at school." To give them credit, the two lasted about a full second before they both started laughing.

"So, I know the day has barely started yet, but anything new with you?" Sam asked as the two waited for the third member of their little group.

Danny sighed and rubbed the back of his neck before he answered, "Well…I told my family."

Sam didn't need to ask to know what he was talking about. "How'd they take it?"

"Better than I expected," the blue-eyed teen replied with a shrug. "At least my parents didn't immediately jump for any ecto-guns or try to strap me down to an examination table. They even tried to convince me to become normal again, but I told them no. After that I left for school."

"Ugh, that's why you can't tell parents anything. They never listen and they don't understand." Sam suddenly threw her head back and shouted, "Why can't they just accept me for who I am!"

After a moment of silence, Danny smiled softly and laid a hand on Sam's shoulder, "Hey, you know you'll always be Sam: the super-cool, gothic, ultra-recyclo-vegetarian to me. You don't ever need to change." The goth girl blushed at Danny's words, drawing a blush from the half-ghost teen as well before he slowly removed his hand.

"Thanks Danny." Sam's voice was so low that Danny could barely hear her.

"Hey guys!" the two lovebirds looked over to see the third member of their trio approaching; Casper High's resident super techno-geek, Tucker Foley.

"Hey Tuck," Sam and Danny replied together. Once the African-American teen caught up with them, the three made their way into the school. As they walked, Danny filled both of them in on the full happenings of what occurred at Fenton Works.

"Woah. Dude, you sure that was a good idea?" Tucker asked with a slight frown as the three ascended one of the stairwells in the high school.

Danny shrugged as they came to a stop on the landing, "I'll find out, but it's been a month since the 'accident' and I still barely have any control. Maybe without having to worry about my parents finding out on their own, I can spend some more time practicing at home. After all, if anyone at school finds out about my powers I automatically go from 'geek' to 'freak'." Unnoticed to the teen, he had started to sink through the floor at some point during his answer.

"Kinda like what you're doing right now?" Tucker asked. Danny looked down and found he had sunk up to his waist. After letting out a small yelp, Sam and Tucker grabbed his arms and hauled the teen back out of the floor until his legs turned tangible again.

Danny sighed and stuck his hands in his pockets before he continued walking up the stairs. "Well let's just hope that I'll get better with practice before I get labeled as a freak." The half-ghost teen noticed a snack machine coming up and decided to voluntarily use his powers this time. After focusing quickly, Danny became transparent and walked through the machine before he willed himself back to normal.

Sam quickly made her way to Danny's side and stopped the teen. "Danny, you're powers don't make you a freak. They make you unique and unique is good," Sam said, doing her best to console Danny. "That's why I'm an ultra-recyclo-vegetarian."

Tucker joined them as he asked, "Which means what?"

"She doesn't eat anything with a face on it," Danny answered.

"Ah, who cares about that stuff?" Tucker asked dismissively. "Danny, two words. Meat. Connoisseur." The beret-wearing teen sniffed Danny quickly before he said, "Last night, you had sloppy joes."

Danny allowed himself a small smile at Tucker's antics, "Impressive."

"Meat heightens the senses," Tucker explained. "And my all-meat streak is fourteen years strong."

Danny smirked slightly as he said, "Of course, it has nothing to do with the fact that you were at my house last night right before I had dinner right." Tucker sputtered in denial.

Sam also had a small smirk on her lips as she said, "And unfortunately Tucker, your meat streak is about to end. The school board finally approved a change to the menu. I wore them down."

"Wait," Tucker interrupted with a disbelieving frown on his face, "What did you do?"

What was done became revealed as the three friends stood in the lunch line later that day. All across the cafeteria were banners proclaiming various messages in keeping with the vegetarian theme. Finally, the three friends received their portion of lunch.

Danny looked down at his skeptically, "What is this? Grass on a bun?" Indeed, the lunch was what looked grass growing out of a slice of bread.

"What have you done!" Tucker cried at Sam.

Sam smirked and held up her own slice of 'grass on toast', "Tucker…it's time for a change."

- Meanwhile, Back at Fenton Works –

For what might have been the first time in his life, Jack Fenton wasn't gallivanting on about his newest anti-ghost invention or eating his weight in snacks. No, he was simply sitting on the living room couch and staring silently at the floor.

Maddie sat down next to him, concerned since her husband had been like this after their children had headed off to school. "Jack, honey, is something wrong?" she asked after a minute of silence.

The large man didn't even seem to notice her question as he sat there. Then, when Maddie had started to think he had fallen asleep with his eyes open (again), he said, "Our son was afraid of us. He couldn't even tell about what happened to him because he was scared of what we would do." Jack looked up at his wife, "Are we really that obsessed with destroying or dissecting ghosts?"

Maddie looked down, a frown gracing her features, "Until now I didn't think we were. Sure we were a little eccentric, but to the point where our son became afraid of telling us he had become half-ghost?" The brown-haired woman placed her face in her hands.

Jack drew his wife into a one-armed hug, "I guess the only thing we can do now is support our son. He wants to be a hero and help people using his powers. But he still might need our help to come up with gadgets to fight these ghosts."

"Maybe we could permanently close off the Fenton Portal," Maddie suggested as she looked up from her hands.

"It wouldn't make a difference," Jack said. "Remember, natural ghost portals still pop up all over the world. Either through our portal or those ones, the ghosts will still come since they seem to be drawn to Amity Park for some strange reason. All we can do is help Danny as much as possible and support him as best we can."

Meanwhile, down in the basement lab, the Fenton Portal opened and out stepped a ghost that looked like a very old lunch lady wearing pink clothes.

The ghost looked around at her surroundings, "Ooh, somebody changed the menu." With that, the ghost tuned invisible/intangible and floated up through the ceiling.

- Back at Casper High –

Tucker looked up from his 'turfwhich' at the goth girl sitting across from him, "This is going too far Sam!"

Said goth girl just crossed her arms and frowned angrily, "No one is making you eat it you know! You don't have to keep whining like a little baby!"

Meanwhile, Danny sighed as he listened to his friends argue. He knew that something as trivial as this wouldn't ruin their friendship but it was so very annoying listening to them. The teen looked down at his turfwhich and knew of one thing that would break up their current squabble.

Unnoticed by the other two, Danny grabbed some ketchup and applied it to his lunch before taking a bite of it. Sam and Tucker stopped their argument as they watched Danny chew before he gulped down the food. After a moment silence Danny muttered, "Hmm, that wasn't half-bad," before he took another bite.

Unfortunately, at that moment another distraction arrived in the form of a bald, overweight teacher. "Ah, Miss Manson. The school board wanted me to thank you personally for introducing this welcome experiment to our school's cafeteria menu," Mr. Lancer said with his patented 'teacher smile'.

Tucker's nose suddenly twitched as it caught the scent of something familiar, "Meat. Near." The beret-wearing teen leaned closer to sniff a suddenly nervous Mr. Lancer.

"No, no," the bald teacher held up his hands in defense as he said, "The rumors about the all-steak buffet in the teacher's break room are completely untrue." He patted Sam's shoulder, "Thanks again." The teacher then walked off, picking at his teeth with a toothpick.

"Yeah Sam, thanks for making us eat garbage," Tucker said angrily.

"It's not garbage. Its recyclable organic matter," Sam argued back.

"Yeah Tucker, it's not so bad once you get used to the texture," Danny said, having finished his turfwhich.

While Tucker continued to steam over the loss of his precious meat, the lunch lady (the human one) noticed that last student had just grabbed their lunch and decided to sneak out back to partake in a fresh cheeseburger she had happened to stash in her apron before school had started. While she was gone the Lunch Lady (the ghostly one) floated down into the kitchen and smiled at the sight of the familiar space. That smile turned to a frown though as she picked up a small notebook that detailed the thing she hated most: a changed lunch menu.

Back with the three teens, Danny shivered slightly as a blue wisp of air escaped his mouth. "Uh, guys," the half-ghost called. The other two turned their heads in time to catch a quick glimpse of the blue wisp as Danny said, "I've got a problem."

Suddenly, a batch of mushy dirt collided with the back of his head, accompanied by a shout of, "Fenton!"

"Make that two problems," Danny muttered as he turned to face the head bully of Casper High, Dash Baxter.

The blonde-haired jock was growling as he marched up to Danny and held out a plate of was looked like mini pies made out of mud, "I ordered three mud pies and guess what they gave me? Three MUD pies! With MUD! From the GROUND! All because of your girlfriend."

Before Danny could reply he was grabbed by the front of his t-shirt and hoisted up into Dash's face as the jock ranted, "These are the best years of my life! After high school it's all downhill for me! How am I supposed to enjoy my glory days if I have to spend them eating mud!"

"Actually, it's topsoil," Sam interrupted.

"Whatever!" Dash shouted as he threw Danny back at the table. The blonde jock stalked up and slammed the plate down in front of Danny. With his patented bully glare, Dash growled out, "Eat it. All of it."

Danny looked down at the mud pies and then back up at Dash. In that instant the half-ghost teen was hit with a startling realization. Dash was nowhere near as scary as some of the ghosts he had tangled with after he had gained his powers.

It was that thought that gave Danny the nerve to stand up, look Dash in the face, and say one single word, "No."

The crowd around them gasped in shock whilst Dash stared at Danny in shock for a couple seconds before he recovered, "What did you say?"

Danny stood his ground, noticing out of the corner of his eye that something was floating along in the cafeteria kitchen, a determined look set upon his features as he said, "No one is making you eat this stuff. If you don't want to eat it then don't eat it. But that doesn't mean you can force people like me to eat it for you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have something much more important than you to take care of." With that, Danny turned and started to walk away from the boy who had bullied him all through middle school. Almost everyone gathered in the cafeteria was staring at Danny in shock with mouths hanging wide open, the only one not doing so was a suspiciously blushing Sam.

'_Woah. Serious Danny is kinda…hot. Did I just think that?'_ the Goth girl thought to herself, but her thoughts quickly changed their tune as she watched Dash begin a wind-up to punch Danny while his back was turned. Sam quickly snapped out of her shock and shouted, "Danny!"

The half-ghost teen exploded into action. In what seemed only a second, Danny ducked out of the way of Dash's fish, swept the bully's feet out from under him to send him crashing to the floor, and finished with a punch that Danny halted a mere centimeter from impacting with Dash's nose.

Danny held that pose for a couple seconds before he pulled back his fist and slowly stood up, "I'm not going to be your punching bag anymore Dash. I hope you get that through your thick skull. Although, knowing your grades, I doubt that'll happen."

Danny didn't say another word as he left the shell- shocked crowd of students and exited the cafeteria. Tucker and Sam quickly caught up with him in time to see Danny lean against one of the hallway walls and take a deep, shuddering breath to calm down from the adrenalin rushing through his system. It had taken all of his willpower to keep his fist from hitting Dash's face, as well as keep his eyes from turning green, during the little scuffle.

"Dude, that was awesome!" Tucker shouted with a small laugh. "Did you see the look on Dash's face when you took him down?"

Sam, however, ignored Tucker's rambling and asked, "Are you okay Danny? I can't imagine how tough it must have been for you to have stood up to Dash like that."

Danny smiled slightly, "No harder than facing down a ghost. And speaking of which, we have one to take care of right now." With that, the three went on a roundabout route to the cafeteria kitchen and peeked around the doorway, only to see the Lunch Lady floating around looking confused.

"Huh, shouldn't be too difficult," Tucker whispered, "She looks kind of like my grandma."

"Shouldn't she be haunting a bingo parlor then?" Danny quietly asked as the three entered the kitchen.

It didn't take long for the Lunch Lady to spot them and float over as she asked in a kind voice, "Hello children, could you help me? Today's lunch is supposed to be meatloaf, but I don't see the meatloaf. Did someone change the menu?"

Tucker immediately spoke up, "Yeah. Sh(mph)!" Danny clapped a hand over his friend's mouth when he caught on to what the glasses-wearing teen was going to do.

Danny looked up at the confused Lunch Lady and smile disarmingly at her, "Yeah. It was this bald, overweight teacher. He did it so that the teachers could keep all the meat in the school for themselves."

The Lunch Lady immediately gained an angry appearance as she shouted, "He changed the menu! Unforgivable! The menu has been same for fifty years! Rrraaaagh!" The Lunch Lady flew off to go find the 'bald, overweight teacher' and exact vengeance.

Tucker separated from Danny and smiled at his friend, "Dude, great save! Way to pin the blame on Lancer."

Danny however, was not amused as he glared angrily at Tucker. "I can't believe you were just about to sell out Sam! Is meat that important to you to the point you would sic a ghost onto one of your friends? Sam isn't even the one who changed the menu anyways. The school could have just as easily said 'no' to Sam's idea, but they are the ones who made the change to the school that switched the lunch menu around. So stop trying to pin this whole mess on Sam!"

Tucker winced at Danny's remarks and looked at the ground sadly. He stayed like that for a couple seconds before he looked back up at Sam, "I'm sorry Sam. Maybe I do take this meat thing a little too far sometimes. I promise I'll do my best to not get so carried away when it comes to meat from now on."

Sam, who had been shocked at the direction Danny had taken after the ghost had left, smiled lightly Tucker's apology, "Apology accepted Tucker. Now then. I believe we have a, how did you put it Danny? A 'bald, overweight' teacher to save?"

Danny nodded with a smile before shouting, "Going Ghost!" The bluish-white ring appeared around and Danny Phantom now stood, ready to do battle. The ghostly teen floated into the air and said, "I'll go on ahead. You two catch up as best you can and be careful. Hopefully this won't take too long."

After getting a nod from his two friends, Danny took off to save the teachers.

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><p><strong>- (End Chapter) –<strong>

**Unknown-nin345: Hello again everyone! Here we are at yet another commercial break. As you can see I'm definitely making drastic changes to Danny's character and spurring along the DannyxSam romance. I definitely plan on them admitting their feelings before season three. When exactly? Eh, I'll figure that out when I get there.**

**But, back to the issue of Danny getting a backbone. Danny had been fighting against vicious ghost animals for a month before the start of the first episode (at least as far as I can tell, they never really mentioned if Danny fought any humanoid ghosts before the Lunch Lady) and yet he's scared of a bully like Dash? **

**Well, yeah, canon Danny might be but not this Danny! I'll reveal one of reasons why along with a major plot twist in the next couple chapters. And this twist is going to be a big one!**

**(Listens to the sudden clamoring of the readers)**

**What? You want a hint? Fine, all I'll say is this: I'll be taking out one of the characters from the show and replacing them with an OC. **

**Now run along, be good little readers and review please.**

…**BEWARE!**


	3. Mystery Meat Pt 2

**A HERO'S JOURNEY  
>Chapter 3<strong>

**Unknown-nin345: Hello to all the readers out there and welcome to the third chapter of my Danny Phantom fic. I'd like to thank everyone who has left me a review so far and I hope that they keep on reviewing as the story progresses.**

**However, I find myself at a bit of a crossroads here and I wish to ask you readers for your input. I will also be putting this poll up at on my account site, so if you wish to you can vote there as well. Here's what I am undecided on:**

**Should I put the episode '****The Ultimate Enemy****' before or after the episode '****Memory Blank****'? Make no mistake, either choice shall have a big impact on the story and it will have a deciding factor in how I portray certain characters. If you haven't watched Danny Phantom I would suggest either getting a month's free trial from Netflix, or going to animehere . com where you can watch DP free, but only in 72 minute rotations (meaning you'd have to wait for your time to reset before you can continue watching it for free). That way you can make an informed decision. **

**Before 'Memory Blank': 0  
>After 'Memory Blank': 0<strong>

**I'll also set up this poll on my profile page so you can vote there as well. *Poll is now up***

**Right then, get to voting readers and I shall get on with the story.**

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><p>"Hopefully this won't take too long. Me and my big mouth," Danny groaned as he dodged around attacks that came at him from a large meat monster.<p>

It hadn't taken him long to find the Lunch Lady (Lancer's screams of various book titles helped in his search). Unfortunately, he found her just as she had finished absorbing all the meat in the school to become a giant monster made of meat.

The ghostly teen shouted in pain as the meat monster landed a hit and sent him flying. On instinct, Danny became intangible and phased through the wall he was speeding towards. Righting himself in mid-air, the green-eyed ghost teen flew back through the wall in time to see the meat monster hurl a bunch of kabobs at a newly arrived Sam and Tucker.

Danny pushed himself as fast as he could fly and managed to reach his friends in time to turn them both intangible. After the last kabob passed through them, Danny rushed forward and landed a devastating kick that sent the meat monster flying back into one of the locker-lined walls.

The half-ghost teen turned back to his friends, "You guys okay?"

"A-Okay dude!" Tucker affirmed with a thumbs up.

Sam just nodded with a small smile before she pointed back down the hall, "Danny, it's getting back up."

Danny turned back to the meat monster and took off, winding up for a punch that he let fly just as he reached the hulking mess of meat only to have his fist caught. The meat monster grinned evilly before it threw Danny hard at one of the walls. This time though the white-haired teen couldn't become intangible in time and slammed hard into the wall, falling down onto the ground.

The meat monster then turned its attention on Tucker and Sam before it spoke. _"Now you will learn why meat is the most powerful of the five food groups._ Cake?" it suddenly asked, sounding like the normal, kind Lunch Lady while it held up a slice cake on a plate.

Sam and Tucker were stuck dumb by the sudden randomness of the question and slowly nodded their heads.

Abruptly, the monster's voice changed again back to sounding evil, _"Too bad! Naughty children like you don't deserve cake! Now perish!"_ The meat monster then roared at the two teens.

When the roar stopped, Tucker looked over at the Goth girl and asked, "Run?"

"Run," Sam agreed. They took off screaming while the meat monster chased after them.

With a groan, Danny opened his eyes as he blearily tried to process what was going on. After a couple seconds his sight became focused again in time to catch the meat monster chasing Sam and Tucker around a corner. Danny pushed himself to his feet and took off flying after them.

The half-ghost teen quickly caught up and noticed that his friends were heading right for a dead end. Pushing himself to fly faster, Danny swooped in under one of the meat monsters wild swings and picked up Sam and Tucker. He quickly turned all of them intangible and phased them through the wall; fortunately the meat monster couldn't do the same as it slammed into the wall before dissolving into its basic meat parts. The Lunch Lady floated up out of the meaty remains and scowled before flying off deeper into the school.

Danny flew a short distance from the school before he touched down, releasing Sam and Tucker as he did so. The ghostly teen looked at his friends and asked, "Are you guys okay?"

"I think we should be asking you that, Danny," Sam responded with a small frown, "Fighting meat monsters, phasing through walls, getting slammed into one. It's a wonder you're still standing."

Danny suddenly wobbled as he said, "Hold that thought Sam." The teen suddenly fell to the ground, changing back to his human form as he lost consciousness.

"Danny!" the two shouted as they picked him and started carrying him back home.

- At the Fenton Works -

Maddie Fenton looked up from the book she was reading on the living room couch before she gasped in shock when she saw Tucker and Sam carry the unconscious Danny through the door. Quick as could be, the concerned mother snatched her son from the arms of his friends and gently laid him down on the couch.

The brown-haired woman looked over at the other two teenagers and asked, "What happened to Danny? Was it a ghost?" The two teens took a moment to respond before they remembered that Danny's parents know knew his secret.

"A ghost of some Lunch Lady came to the school and apparently didn't like the changes to the menu, which took away the meat," Tucker said.

"Danny fought the ghost, which took on the form of this large meat monster," Sam said, shivering slightly as she recalled all that _meat._ "He was doing well against it before the monster decided to come after us. Danny got us out of their by phasing us through the school wall. Then he passed out. He's never had to use his powers this much in one go since the ghosts started coming through the portal, so he's probably just exhausted."

At that moment, a groan escaped Danny's lips as he slowly rose into a sitting position on the couch, "Aw man, did anyone get the license plate on the truck that hit me?"

"Are you all right sweetie?" Maddie asked her son.

It took Danny a quick minute to remember that his mother knew about his ghostly self before he answered, "Yeah, just a little sore and tired. The ghost was different from the ones I've fought before."

"How so Danny?" the brown-haired woman asked.

"Well," Danny replied as he thought back on all the fights he'd had with ghosts so far. "Before, all I've faced are the ghosts of animals. They didn't really have any abilities beyond what they probably had when they were all alive although they did seem smarter than the average bear, if you know what I mean."

Maddie smiled lightly at her son's wry humor before she asked, "And what about this one sweetie?"

"This one was human, obviously. It also had a special ability," Danny began to explain, telling his mother about meeting the Lunch Lady, sending the ghost to attack the teachers, and then fighting the meat monster.

"That's probably because of its obsession Danny," Maddie said after her son had finished his story. Seeing the confused expressions on the three teens, the ghost hunter went on to explain, "Each ghost has two main components that make it a ghost: a focus, and an obsession. A focus is the emotion that a ghost associates best with in regards to their death, while a ghost's obsession is what ties them to this plane of existence instead of moving on."

"Like those ghosts that stick around those old, creepy mansions in the movies?" Tucker asked. Off to the side Sam rolled her eyes.

Maddie nodded, "Exactly Tucker. Now then, it sounds like this ghost's obsession is serving the old lunch menu at your high school, or maybe she just likes meat."

Tucker suddenly shot up as he said, "That gives me an idea. I'll see you guys tomorrow and if what I've got in mind works, we could take care of two birds with one stone. Bye!" Before anybody could say anything in reply, the glasses-wearing teen shot out the door.

After a couple seconds of silence Danny shrugged, "I hope this doesn't turn out like his usual plans."

Sam looked over at Danny's mom and asked, "Mrs. Fenton, you said that all ghosts have a focus and obsession right? Since Danny is only half-ghost, would he have those as well?"

"It's entirely possible, the focus and obsession are what gives a ghost its power and abilities after all," Maddie said with a small shrug. "Of course since Danny is only part-ghost he probably isn't restricted by them as much as a full-ghost would be." The brown-haired woman noticed her son start to look at her strangely and frowned, "Is something wrong sweetie?"

Danny shook his head and sighed as he ran a head through his messy hair, "Sorry, it's just I keep expecting you to suddenly try to tie me down to some examination table and run tests on me."

Maddie kneeled so that she was eye-level with her son and placed her of her hands on his shoulders as she stared into his eyes, "Daniel Isaiah Fenton, you are my son and nothing is ever going to change that. Whether you're a human, a ghost, or something in between; I will always love you no matter what, don't you ever doubt that."

"She's right you know!"

The three people in the living room looked around when they heard the shout from Danny's father. After a couple minutes of searching, the three heard a small shout of surprise before Jack Fenton came falling down from the ceiling with a loud thud and groan of pain.

Immediately Maddie rushed over to her husband and asked, "Jack! Are you okay? What happened?"

Jack groaned before he sat up and said, "Nothing to worry about babe, just testing out one of my few non-ghost inventions." He pointed up to the ceiling where the other three could see four flat pads with untied straps were stuck to the ceiling. "As you can see, I can get them to stick just fine. Getting myself to stick to them is proving tricky though."

Before anyone had time to recover from the jumpsuit-wearing man's statement, he had turned to son with a rarely seen serious expression on his face, "Ignoring my inventions for the moment, your mother is right Danny. After you left for school this morning your mother and I had a talk and we both agreed that we are very proud of what you have decided to do. We will always be proud of whatever choice you make. Like your mother said: it doesn't matter if you're ghost, human, or something in between, you will always be our son."

Danny visibly sagged in relief at his parents words and bowed his head to hide the tears that he could feel building up in his eyes. It was all for naught though as the tears came falling when the young teen felt both of his parents wrap him up in a three-way hug. Off to the side Sam smiled gently, happy that her best friend was fully accepted by his parents.

"Thanks Mom, Dad. I…thanks," Danny said as he wiped the tears from his eyes. Wanting to get back on track, Danny changed the subject, "I still don't know how I'm going to get this ghost to go back to the Ghost Zone. It's not like I can just beat it back in like I did with the animal ghosts."

Jack Fenton snapped his fingers and exclaimed, "I have just the thing!" Without preamble, the large man took off to the basement with his wife following him.

Alone in the living room, Sam turned to Danny and smirked as she asked, "Your middle name is Isaiah?"

Danny chuckled sheepishly, "Yeah, after my mom's dad. Besides, I don't think you should be laughing at names, Samantha. Ow!" he yelped in pain as Sam slugged his shoulder. "Hey! I'm still injured here."

Sam crossed her arms and smirked, "And that's why I didn't hit you harder than that, Isaiah."

"Sheesh, you're one violent girl," Danny muttered as he rubbed his shoulder. Just then, Danny's parents returned with his father holding what looked like a metallic thermos.

"The Fenton Thermos?" Danny asked when he saw it. "But I thought you couldn't get it to work."

Jack nodded with a large grin, "That's true son, but maybe you can."

Danny's reply spoke of his level of intelligence, "Huh?"

"What your father means," Maddie butted in, "is that you might be able to charge it up using your ecto-energy. Your father and I haven't been able to find a suitable method to take the ecto-energy from the ghost zone and harness it into objects like this which need ecto-energy to power them, so that's why it doesn't work. Hopefully it should absorb the ecto-energy you put into it though and power up."

Danny dubiously took the thermos from his father and looked at it for a moment before he shrugged, "Well, it's worth a shot." The black-haired teen switched to his ghost form and reached for the energy source he felt whenever he turned intangible or invisible and pulled on it. Danny's hands became covered in a green glow as he pushed the energy into the device in his hands. After a couple minutes a small 'ding' came from the thermos and Danny pulled the energy back into himself.

The ghostly teen looked over at his parents and asked, "How can we tell it worked?"

"We could always test it on you," Sam stated with a small smirk.

"Ha ha ha," Danny laughed with a healthy dose of sarcasm.

Before anybody else could say anything though, a figure phased up through the living room floor. The man was pleasantly plump, had pale blue skin, and was dressed in an outfit commonly seen on a warehouse dock worker.

"I am the Box Ghost!" the ghost shouted in an overly theatric and horrible attempt at a spooky voice while raising his arms above his head. "Master of all square containers, be they plastic, wood, or metal. Beware!"

The other occupants in the room just stared at the ghost floating there before Danny uncapped the Thermos and pointed it at the ghost. A beam of bright blue light erupted from the Thermos and captured the Box Ghost. Said ghost started shouting in disbelief as he was forcibly drug into the cylindrical container.

Danny placed the cap back on the Thermos and looked up at everyone else, "Well, I guess it works." Danny's parents went off to celebrate (Jack was breaking out the victory ham) while Sam made her way over to the now-human Danny.

"My parents have their moments," the blue-eyed teen said with a small smile as he held up the Thermos. The Box Ghost could be faintly heard complaining about how he'd been captured in a 'cylindrical' device.

"Hopefully it'll work against the lunch lady tomorrow," Sam replied with a concerned frown.

Danny just smiled softly, "I'll be okay Sam. Now I know how this ghost fights, plus I actually have something to trap it in. You'll see."

Sam nodded, smiling lightly at Danny's words, "Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yep, hopefully Tucker's plan won't go too bad," Danny replied.

Sam made her way to the door, but stopped at the entrance to the living room and turned back to her friend, "Hey Danny." When the half-ghost teen turned to her, she smiled gently, "I'm really glad that parents were able to accept all of you."

Danny smiled back, "Yeah, me too. See ya tomorrow Sam." With one last wave, the Gothic girl left.

Danny looked down at the Thermos and said, "Well, I guess it's time for you to head back in to the Ghost Zone." The half-ghost teen went down to the basement after getting the instructions on how to return the ghost from his mom. A quick minute later and the Box Ghost had been deported out of the human realm.

As Danny made his way back upstairs he muttered, "I really hope Tuck's plan isn't too over the top."

**- The Next Day -**

"Yep, definitely over the top," Danny muttered when he made it to school.

Somehow, in a single night, Tucker had managed organize, set up, and implement a rally in front of the school. The theme of the rally: 'We Want Meat!'. Everywhere Danny looked he could see people grilling, barbequing, and doing all sorts of stuff associated with meat. The half-ghost teen even saw a large stage had been put up and was featuring a group of female dancers known as 'The Wienerettes' that were dressed up in hot dog costumes.

Tucker then showed up on the stage with a microphone in hand. "What do we want?" he asked the crowd.

"MEAT!" the crowd responded.

"When do we want it?"

"NOW!"

Danny hid his face in his hands and sighed. Behind him, he heard Sam's voice, "Ugh, I can't believe this."

The half-ghost teen turned to her and nodded, "I know what you mean. It's impressive that he managed to get this all put together in one night, but I can't really see how this is going to help." Sam nodded her agreement.

The African-American teen came up to them with a wide smile on his face, "Hey guys, what do you think?"

"How'd you manage to get this protest all set up in one night?" Danny asked.

Tucker puffed out his chest and said, "Meat-eaters Danny, we're always ready to fight. And our high-protein diets give us the energy to do it quickly. Plus, I'm just that awesome."

Sam rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, "You forgot modest, macho man."

"Hmph, you're just jealous you didn't think to throw together a rally," Tucker retorted.

Danny sighed as he spotted the beginnings of an argument coming on, "Guys not now please. The Lunch Lady could show up at any moment." As if cued, a blue wisp appeared out of Danny mouth. "Like now."

The clouds that had been gathering overhead swirled ominously as all the meat began to levitate in the air. The truck full of meat suddenly burst open as the various bits of meat began to gather together. After a couple of minutes a giant meat monster had formed.

"_IT'S LUNCH TIME!_" the monster shouted, sending the protestors into a panic.

Tucker fell to his knees in sorrow, "Meat! Why have you betrayed me!"

Danny, his eyes glowing green, quickly looked around and ducked behind a tree to change into his ghost form. His transformation complete, the ghostly teen flew up so that he was level with the meat monster's face.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Down on the ground, amidst the crowd of panicking pedestrians, two people were completely ignoring the action going on around them.

"Spike you have to open up to your parents, be true to them and you," Jazz said imploringly to an extremely punked-out metalhead teen. "It's not like they're going to attack you or anything."

'Spike' at her for a couple minutes before sighing heavily, "All I wanted was to be gardener once I got out of high school, but my parents didn't like that. So I decided, since my parents already disapproved of my career choice, I might as well go all the way in going against what they liked."

"Why didn't they approve of your decision to be a gardener?" Jazz asked, honestly surprised at the admission she had just gotten.

'Spike' shrugged, "I don't know. I guess they think I should try to be all I can be and become somebody important or something. But that's not what I want to do."

Jazz was silent in thought for a moment before suggesting, "Maybe if you got rid of your current outfit and do something that really showed your talents in gardening, they might be more accepting."

"Like?" 'Spike' asked with a pierced eyebrow raised high.

"Maybe grow a plot of rare flowers that are arranged into a special design," Jazz suggested. "Show them how serious you are about what you want to do and maybe they'll come around to being more accepting."

'Spike' nodded as he started thinking it over. He got off the bench and gave the red-haired girl a grateful look, "Thanks Jazz. I'll let you know how this all turns out."

Jazz gave him a small wave as he walked off before punching the air, "Yes!" A tremendous thud coming from behind her made her jump in fright as she turned around to see the meat monster lying flat on the ground.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Floating up in the air, Danny proudly surveyed his handiwork before turning to flash a 'thumbs-up' at his two friends.

Down on the ground, Tucker commented, "You know, he is getting pretty good at this." Sam nodded.

The ghostly teen turned back to the meat monster in time to receive a devastating punch that sent him rocketing up into the atmosphere.

"I sure hope he can take a punch," Sam observed with a small amount of worry.

A passing airplane, clueless to the battle going on beneath it, flew by overhead.

"Here's your water sir!" a stereotypical perky stewardess said as she set the glass on the tray table in front of the passenger. At that moment, an intangible Danny flew up through the cabin before coming back down and grabbing the water with a quick "Thanks!"

The white-haired teen splashed the water in his face as he rocketed back down to the ground. Both his fists began to glow with ecto-energy as he pushed himself to fly as fast as could. The wind whistled furiously past his ears as Danny drew ever closer to his target.

Danny collided with the meat monster and generated an earth-shaking explosion as the meat was blown apart. The ghost teen crawled out of the small crater that had formed, rubbing his sore shoulders.

"Oh dear," the green-eyed teen looked up to see the Lunch Lady floating before him. "What a mess. Are you okay?"

Danny stretched, getting rid of a kink in his spine, as he replied, "Yeah…Yeah, I think so."

The Lunch Lady smiled kindly before her voice became evil-sounding as she shouted, "_Tough! Because you being okay is not part of my balanced Diet of DOOM!_" Suddenly, the meat began to gather together to form five mini meat monsters that quickly surrounded Danny.

Danny flew up just they jumped forward, causing them all to face plant into each other. The half-ghost teen let loose a roundhouse kick at them that easily cut them in half. Danny's triumph was short-lived though as the meat monsters reformed.

"Wasn't expecting that," Danny commented as he took a step back from the tiny terrors. Suddenly, the blue-white ring formed around his body as he turned back to his human form. "Or that."

The meat monsters took advantage of his weakness and quickly took hold of Danny before lifting him up into the air. At that moment, the Fenton Family Assault Vehicle stormed into the yard surrounding the school before both of Danny's parents jumped out of the vehicle.

"Get your meaty hands off my son ghost freaks!" Maddie shouted as she held up a small tube that fired a net which wrapped around one of the meat monsters. She began to reel it in only to have the net slice n' dice the meaty ghost into little pieces that easily reformed. The mini meat monster roared before flying towards the two ghost hunters.

Jack stepped forward, brandishing a bright green bat, "Time to show this ghost how the Fenton Anti-Creep Stick gets things done." When the ghost got into range, Jack let loose a powerful swing that not only made the meat monster burst apart but also sent the ecto-energy possessing it rocketing back to the Lunch Lady as the meat fell lifelessly to the ground. Jack held the green bat aloft as he shouted, "Ha-ha! Score one for the Anti-Creep Stick!"

At that moment, the other meat monsters decided to let go of Danny, causing those watching to shout his name as the teen fell.

Danny closed his eyes as he felt for the energy inside himself, "C'mon…change back. Change back!" Danny's body pulsed once with a green light before the blue-white circle reappeared as he changed back to his ghost form. The teen turned intangible as the ground approached and quickly made his way through the ground to where the Lunch Lady was still floating.

As he became solid again, Danny pulled out the Fenton Thermos from its place on his back.

"_NO!_" the Lunch Lady shouted when her eyes fell on the container. "_Soup is not on today's menu!_"

"I'm changing the menu…permanently!" Danny shouted as he uncapped the Thermos and pointed it at the Lunch Lady as he activated it. The beam of bright blue light shot and captured the Lunch Lady in its ghost-catching ray. The cafeteria ghost screamed in rage as it was sucked into the modified soup container. With a sigh of relief, Danny placed the lid back onto the Thermos as he changed back to his human form.

"Danny!" The half-ghost teenager looked up at the sound of his name and smiled as the sight of his friends and family gathering around him.

Danny handed the Fenton Thermos to his parents, "Worked like a charm."

Maddie wrapped her son in a hug, "Oh, I am so proud of you sweetie. Are you okay? You're terribly hurt are you?"

"I'm fine mom, really," Danny replied as she let go. "I'm a little sore, but I'm fine."

"So how was your first day of being a full-fledged superhero?" Jazz asked her younger brother.

Danny smiled at her, "Not too bad. Stopped the ghost and nobody got hurt. I'd say that could count as an A+ as far today goes."

"Hmm, I wonder if school's cancelled for today?" Tucker asked nobody in particular, causing laughs all around.

For the moment, life was good, Danny reflected as he left the schoolyard with his friends and family when it was revealed that school was, in fact, cancelled for the day. The young ghostly teen had taken his first step on the path to be a hero and even though he knew that tough times were ahead, he couldn't be more excited about was might come.

* * *

><p><strong>- End Chapter -<strong>

**Unknown-nin345: Sorry it took me so long to get this up, but I had to go back and watch the first episode again to get a feel for how Danny's second fight with the Lunch Lady should go. As you can see, Danny's parents will be occasionally getting in some punches of their own against some of Danny's enemies. **

**For those of you wondering about Jazz's counseling session and haven't seen the TV show: Originally, Danny's parent are under the impression that a ghost is somehow impersonating Jazz and try to catch her. At the point of the counseling session, they use that grapple net device I had Maddie use and pull her away before 'Spike' could have his breakthrough. This is just me putting forth a possible way that might have developed. 'Spike' might show up in another chapter but I'm not sure yet. **

**Spoiler: the whole bit about a ghost's 'focus' and 'obsession' will be coming into play later on.**

**Anywho, I'll leave you now with three words:**

**READ, REVIEW, VOTE! **


	4. Parental Bonding Pt 1

**Chapter 4—A Hero's Journey**

**Unknown-nin345: Greetings readers! Unknown-nin here and I want to thank everyone who's reviewed this fic, or added it to their fave stories/story alert list. I was surprised though that nobody said anything about my introduction of the Box Ghost (BEWARE!)**

…

**(Shrugs) Anywho, this chapter kicks off the episode 'Parental Bonding' with a big twist thrown in for good measure…well, two twists and a curveball actually. I hope you all enjoy.**

**Current standing in the Poll:**

**Question: Should I put the episode 'The Ultimate Enemy' before or after 'Memory Blank'? Either choice will have an effect on how some characters will be portrayed in those episodes.**

**Ultimate Enemy Before Memory Blank: 4**

**Ultimate Enemy After Memory Blank: 5**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom. If I did I would have ended the series with some big uber fight between Danny Phantom and Dan Plasmius (I don't get why he's still called Phantom, he is a combination of Danny and Vlad after all). **

**On with the fic!**

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><strong>

* * *

><p>Deep in the bowels of the Fenton family's laboratory, Jack Fenton was going over the list of items he had gathered for the endeavor he was about to undertake.<p>

"Jumpsuit? Check. Special Fenton Fisher? Check. Soda drinking hat? (slurp) Check. Nachos? (munch-munch) Check. All right! Time to fish," Jack said as he sat himself down in a lazy-boy chair he had brought down to the lab and cast his line into the glowing portal that led to the Ghost Zone.

This was the sight Danny was met with as he entered the lab. The half-ghost teen dropped his bag as he made his way over to his large father.

"Uh Dad? Can I-" Danny started to ask, only to be interrupted.

"Danny quiet! You'll scare away the ghosts!" the jumpsuit-wearing man stated in a loud tone as he re-cast his line.

Danny decided to move on to a different topic in favor of puzzling over his father's contradictory statements, "What?"

Jack reeled in his fishing line and showed his son the glowing cord, "Behold the Fenton Fisher. This baby is coated in a special ectoplasmic resin that ghosts can't break. Now quiet down, don't wanna …spook 'em." He re-cast the line, sipping on his soda, while Danny stood there and tried to remember his original reason for coming down to the lab in the first place.

"Woah!" Jack suddenly shouted. "I swear that soda goes through me like Sherman through Georgia. Here," the large man pushed the fishing pole into his startled son's hands. "Hold down the fort. I'll be back, right after I utilize the Fenton Urinal." Jack then rushed off, leaving Danny alone in the lab.

Danny sighed as he stood there, waiting for his father to get back. Suddenly, a cold feeling swept through Danny as a blue wisp of air rose from his mouth. The line of the Fenton Fisher went taut as Danny struggled against whatever had been caught on the other end before it abruptly went slack. Of all things the half-ghost teen was expecting though, a large purple dragon wasn't one of them!

"I HAVE TO GO!" the dragon shouted before one of its claws shot out and grabbed hold of Danny. The dragon brought the young teen up to eye-level as it shouted, "I NEED TO GO!"

Once the breeze from the dragon's shout had settled down, Danny replied, "You'll have to get in line behind my dad. In the meantime, Going Ghost!" One quick change later and Danny phased out of the dragon's claw.

The dragon was puzzled only for a second at the change the half-ghost teen made before it went on the attack. Danny weaved around the dragon's claws and even had to phase through a burst sickly-green ghost fire. While the dragon was surprised by how ineffective its techniques were, Danny rushed forward and landed a solid one-two combo followed by a devastating kick that sent the dragon flying backwards.

Unnoticed by Danny, a small amulet flew off of the dragon's neck and landed neatly into Danny's open backpack.

The half-ghost teen watched as the dragon collided with the wall and readied himself to dodge whatever attacks the ghostly dragon might let loose next. Danny was surprised though, when the dragon became covered in a green glow and slowly changed into a young, blonde-haired woman that was dressed in clothes similar to a medieval princess.

The ghostly woman looked up at Danny, a sad expression on her face. "All I wanted was to the Princess Costume Ball, but my horrid mummy wouldn't let meeee!" she shouted as she was sucked back into the Ghost Zone.

Danny floated back down to the ground and watched as the portal closed, "Huh, if that dragon outfit's her idea of a costume, I'm on 'mummy's' side." The bright-blue ring appeared around him as he changed back to his human form. Danny sighed and collapsed in the chair his dad had set up, "Phew, that's a relief."

"I'll tell you what a relief is!" Danny jumped at his father's out-of-nowhere appearance. Jack Fenton frowned in thought before he set down the cans of soda he had grabbed and rushed off as he said, "Darn, I almost forgot."

Not a second later, the sound of plumbing being flushed echoed down to the lab.

It was lunch time at Casper High School and, as pointed out by an excessively large banner, everyone's mind was on the school dance. Everywhere you looked, you could see the teens going about ways to gain a date for this dance. Some succeeded and others failed, some more so than others.

One such person was Tucker Foley.

"Hey there, would you..?"

"No."

"Hi, want -?"

"Forget it."

"No!"

"I didn't ask you yet!" Tucker whined at his most recent attempt to get a date for the dance. With a heavy sigh, the bespectacled teen made his way over to his friends were and slumped down at the picnic table they were eating at.

Danny looked up from his sandwich and smiled slightly, "Strike three Tuck?"

"Try 'strike three-thousand'," Tucker replied.

"I don't see what the big deal is," Sam spoke up as she viciously stabbed her salad. "I don't need to be asked to some _dance_ to know I'm special. I…what's wrong with Tucker?"

Danny glanced over at the glasses-wearing teen and smirked as he held up a finger, "Give it a second."

"Paaauullliiinnaaaa," Tucker suddenly droned.

Indeed standing there across the way was the ever-popular Paulina, dressed in tight pink crop-top and too-skinny jeans. With her long black hair and curvy body, the Hispanic teen drew the eyes of many of the young boys gathered in the schoolyard, causing them to either erupt with a waterfall of drool or crash into various objects.

While Danny broke out laughing at the sight of two guys taking a swan dive into a fountain, Sam scoffed as she jabbed her fork at the Hispanic girl, "Paulina? Please, girls like her are a dime a dozen."

"Quick, Danny, how much change you got?" Tucker asked as he hurriedly emptied his pockets.

"Ha-ha, very funny. Just remember: you can't judge a book by its cover," Sam reminded as she went back to her salad.

Danny patted Tucker's shoulder as he said, "Well Tuck, might as well go for it. It can't go any worse than the other three-thousand girls who've already turned you down."

"Alright, wish me luck," Tucker said as he got up and made his way over to Paulina.

While Tucker was off doing what he did 'best', Sam turned her attention over to Danny, "You know, to be honest, I'm kinda surprised you're not making a fool of yourself like all those other idiots. In middle school you'd fall up the stairs if Paulina walked by."

Danny just shrugged, "I've got more important things to do than act like I've got no brain at the sight of a girl that's most likely going to crash and burn once she gets out of high school. Seriously, she's like a female Dash but with less b.o."

Sam scrunched up her face at the sudden mental images assaulting her imagination, "Thanks for that particular picture. Looks like Tucker's finished flailing about in the shallow end of the gene pool by the way."

A downtrodden Tucker retook his seat at the picnic table. Both Danny and Sam had to hold in any mocking when they caught sight of the spectacle-wearing teen's 'sad face'. The half-ghost teen gently patted his friends back as the boy with the beret buried his face in his arms. Whatever words of comfort Danny was about to offer were interrupted though by the school's PA system.

"_Attention students, this is Principal Nishizuma with a reminder that all applications for the student exchange program are to be handed in no later than noon tomorrow. We will not accept any late applications. That is all, enjoy your day."_

"Hey maybe you'll get picked for the exchange Tuck and get sent someplace south like Australia or something," Danny suggested.

Tucker visibly brightened as the possibilities flew through his head, "Yeah, it's like summer down there this time of year right? Bikini heaven."

"Guess it's not the end of the world after all, huh Tucker?" Sam asked with a small smirk.

"Ha-ha, I forgot how to laugh," Tucker replied. "Come to think of it, why didn't you sign up for this thing? Danny couldn't for obvious reasons but I thought you would have loved to do something like this Sam."

The Goth girl just shrugged, "I'm not in any hurry to see the world Tucker. Not to mention you two wouldn't get anything done if I wasn't here."

"That's not…" Danny paused before hanging his head, "Okay, it's true."

Sam smiled condescendingly and patted the ghostly teen's head, "C'mon boys, it's almost time for next period."

The two boys sighed sadly and stood to follow their female friend back into the school. Unnoticed by all, a small golden amulet tumbled out of Danny's backpack as he lifted the bag…only to be picked up by a clueless Paulina.

A couple classes later we find Danny and Tucker sorting through their lockers.

"So where'd Sam run off to?" Tucker asked as the two rummaged through their stuff.

"Dunno, I think she said something about a purple-lined manila." Danny shrugged, "She was in a rant at that point so I just nodded my head every now and again. Next thing I know she's off to who knows where."

Tucker paused in his rummaging, "Why does that give me a bad feeling?"

Before Danny could respond, he was body-slammed and locked into his locker by a certain blonde-haired jock.

"Ha! How do ya like that Fen-ton!" Dash taunted with an arrogant smirk.

Inside the locker, Danny's eyes snapped open to reveal glowing green orbs. With a small growl, Danny turned invisible and phased through the door. The ghostly teen floated behind Dash and prepared to push the blonde jock straight into the wall of lockers.

However Danny hit a little snag when his hands, instead of simply pushing Dash, phased into the bully's body. The next thing Danny knew, he was staring down at a slightly shaking Tucker.

"I'm…in Dash's body?"

Tuckers eyes bugged out slightly when he heard his friend's voice come out of Dash's mouth. After taking a quick glance around to see if anyone was paying attention, he whispered, "Danny, that you dude?"

Danny/Dash nodded his head, "Yeah, it's weird. I can feel Dash in here, but it's like…I don't know, it's hard to explain."

Tucker was silent for a moment before he asked, "What're you gonna do now?"

A decidedly evil smirk spread across Dash's face as Danny's voice said, "Oh, a little something-something. School's almost over, I'll meet you and Sam at the mall." With that, Danny/Dash walked off.

A couple minutes later, an invisible Danny made his way out of an empty girl's locker room. Inside was an unconscious Dash who was clothed only in his tighty-whiteys. At that moment the school bell rang, signaling the beginning of Danny's revenge.

With an unseen smirk, Danny moved away from the door as a large group of girls entered the locker room. Danny didn't have to wait long before his ears were assaulted by the shrieks the girls issued upon seeing a boy in their locker room. Not a second later, that same group of girls stampeded out of the room.

Danny quickly made his way back to the locker he had been stuffed into and phased back into it before he broke out in gut-busting laughter. His laughter continued for several minutes, not even stopping as the locker door opened to reveal Sam standing there.

Sam raised an eyebrow at the hysterically laughing Danny before commenting, "Yup, Danny's finally lost his marbles. I knew getting stuffed into all these lockers would make him snap eventually."

Danny's laughter finally began to slowly settle into a chuckle as he tumbled down out of the locker. Accepting the Goth girl's hand, Danny made his way to his feet. Still snickering lightly, Danny explained the cause of his laughing fit.

Sam frowned lightly when Danny finished, "I hope you don't plan on doing something like this every time a bully picks on you."

Danny just smiled softly, "Don't worry Sam, what happened just now with Dash is a one-time thing, I promise. But I'm not just gonna stand around and take this crap from the bullies anymore. I won't use my ghost powers," Danny added to stave off the words he knew were coming, "But I won't stand on the sidelines anymore when it comes to the bullies. If the teachers won't do anything about it then I will."

Sam was silent for a moment before she nodded with a small frown, "Alright, just so long as you don't go out of your way to pick fights with the bullies."

"Hey, I don't go looking for trouble, trouble comes looking for me," Danny objected with a small grin.

"We'll see," Sam replied with a small eyeroll thrown in. "C'mon, I think Tucker's already on his way to the mall."

Soon enough, the three friends were regrouped in the food court of the mall, partaking in some actual food instead of the _stuff_ served at school.

"Man, this is so cool," Tucker said as he demolished his extra-meaty burger. "Who knows what other powers you might get?"

Danny nodded in reply as he munched on some fries, "And since my mom and dad are okay with me being half-ghost I should be able to practice this stuff at home."

"What did it feel like when you took over Dash's body?" Sam asked, picking at her salad.

Danny closed his eyes and thought back on what he could remember. "It was sort of like being underwater. Moving in Dash' body didn't feel as… normal, I guess, as moving in my own. Plus, I could feel Dash. I don't think he was aware of me being there, it was like, uh, like…we were holding a rope but couldn't see each other. I could feel this small tug at times, but it wasn't really doing anything."

"Say Danny," Tucker interrupted, drawing the other two's attention. "If you could just control a girl for say two minutes…"

Danny, easily familiar with how his male friend's mind worked, cut him off, "Oh-no, you can get a date for the dance on your own, like all the other guys did."

"Does he have to take off his pants and act like a dweeb, or will either one do?" Sam asked with a vicious smirk.

"Gah, are you ever gonna let me live that down Sam?" Danny groaned out as he buried his face in his arms.

Sam was referring to a time back in junior high when Danny had tried to ask out a girl (Not Paulina). Of course, Danny had been a clumsy bundle of nerves and half-babbled his question. However, before the girl being asked could answer, Dash and one of his bully buddies showed up out of nowhere and pantsed Danny. Thankfully, (for Danny's sake) he'd been wearing a pair of basketball jersey shorts over his underwear, saving him from total embarrassment.

On a positive note though, the girl Danny had been asking out said 'yes' and the two enjoyed a nice movie at the theater, although nothing else came of the date.

"As your friend, it's my sworn duty to make fun of you whenever I see an opportunity," Sam stated solemnly.

"Gee, thanks."

Off in the designer clothing section of the mall, a certain Hispanic airhead we all know was browsing through the selection of overpriced clothes. Suddenly her eyes lit up as they fell on what was undoubtedly the newest item in the store.

"Oh I just HAVE to have one of these, they're so unique!" Paulina gushed, not noticing that every other teenage girl in the shop was wearing the exact same shirt she was fawning over.

A quick browse through the shirts revealed that there were no size 'smalls' among them. Paulina glanced around and noticed an employee nearby, "Oh miss!"

The employee hopped over, looking every bit the stereotypical perky fashion sales lady, "Yes? How may I help you?"

"Do you have this in a size 'small'?" Paulina asked as she held up one of the shirts that nearly everybody in the store was wearing.

The sales lady scrunched her nose in thought before she answered, "Ooh, sorry. We just sold our last Abyss-Corduroy-button-down-Fleecy-Tee to somebody else."

"Will you be getting anymore soon?" the Hispanic girl asked in desperation.

"The Abyss-Corduroy-button-down-Fleecy-Tee has been discontinued. If you don't have one, then you are doomed to languish as a toxic social outcast for a period of no less than five and no more than sixteen weeks." The sales rep paused to giggle. "Sorry."

Paulina felt an insurmountable amount of anger rise up in her as she ripped the shirt she was holding in half, "SIXTEEN WEEKS!" The amulet on her neck glowed with an eerie light as it taped into the anger its wearer was feeling.

In less than a minute a giant, ghostly, purple dragon now stood where Paulina had just been.

"**MUST HAVE FLEECY-TEE!"  
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><p><strong>- Chapter End -<strong>

**Unknown-nin345: That's the end of Chapter 4, sorry it took so long everyone but as you can see I've introduced yet another big twist to the DP storyline. That's right, Danny does NOT have a crush on Paulina. That was part of the reason I took so long with this chapter, I wanted to include the non-crush elements without making it seem…I dunno, off. I guess you all will let me know how I did.**

**I'm sure there's some of you out there who are secretly saying: "stop using the show's dialogue and come up with your own stuff". Well, until I start making the big changes to the DP universe in later episodes there's not much I can change in the beginning.**

**And I'm sure some of you have figured out my little other twist (stated at the end of Ch 2) that's going to occur down the road. It won't happen though until Episode 11 of the cartoon in relation to the storyline. **

**Oh, and as a request from me, when your answer my poll question please try to type it as I have it worded. I confused myself a couple times when tallying up the votes because of how some of you answered. **

**See you all next time…**

**Review and Vote please.**


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